Date: 09-May-2000 17:49
Author: Craig, Montreal Email
Subject: Andouillettes and andouilles
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I've always heard them referred to as tripe sausages, Robin, though the Larousse Gastronomique goes into more detail than you may want to know.
Let's ease our way by starting with The Food of France, in which Root writes, "Tripe sausages (andouillette, the soft variety, generally displayed in long coils, like a length of garden hose, from which the amount you want is cut off, or andouille, the hard kind) are also specialties of this region [Touraine], espeically of Vouvray and Chinon, though they are natives of Normandy. Andouille is cooked and ready to eat when you buy it, like salami or any other similar sausage; andouillette, however, has to be cooked after purchase." Later he writes, "It was suggested in the Touraine chapter that the tripe sausages, andouille and andouillette, were probably of Norman origin. The fact is not established, but in any case it can be said that the best andouilles in France come from Vire, while for andouillettes, Caen shares the lead with Cambrai in Flanders and Troyes in the Champagne."
Now, take a deep breath. (The squeemish may want to stop reading at this point...). The LG provides the following description:
andouillette
A type of sausage made from pork intestines (chaudins), often with the addition of pork stomach and calf's mesentery, precooked in stock or milk and packed into a skin. Andouillettes, which are sold in 10-15 cm (4-6 inch) lengths and are sometimes coated with breadcrumbs, aspic jelly, or lard, are eaten either grilled (broiled) or fried. Several regions are known for their production of andouillettes. The Troyes andouillette, made solely from pork, has a greasy consistency and is prepared from the intestines and belly of pork, cut into fairly wide strips. The andouilette from Cambrai is usually made from veal only. The Lyonnais andouilette is made from calf's mesentery with, sometimes, a bit of pork belly, while the Provençal andouilette consists of a mixutre of thin slices of pork intestines and neck plus the rind. The drier andouillette from Rouen is made from pig's bowels without the belly and calf's mesentery. Andouillette is traditionally served with mustard and garnished with fried potatoes, red beans, lentils, and a purée of celery, apples, or red cabbage. In Strasbourg it is served on a bed of sauerkraut.
The Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Authentiques Andouillettes (A.A.A.A.A.), a gastronomic society founded by F. Amunategui for those who appreciate authentic andouillettes, upholds the tradition, and Charles Monselet dedicated a sonnet to the andouillette.
Recipes are provided for andouillettes à la lyonnaise (fried in lard, finished with sliced onions softened in butter and a dash of vinegar), à la tourangelle (marinated in Armagnac, baked on a bed of sliced mushrooms over which has been poured a glass of dry Vouvray) and grilled over charcoal. Unfortunately, the sonnet is not reproduced; will see if I can track it down. From the sounds of it, you might want to look into the AAAAA; maybe you could found a Louisville chapter... ;)
The andouillettes made by Thierry, my French butcher, are lean and not terribly "aromatic." They are very tasty grilled. I espeically like them with a fruity Chinon or Borgueuil though I can see your point about Burgundy.
According to the LG, andouille is made from pig stomach and intestines with the possible addition of neck, breast, head or heart. It was a favoured dish of Rabelais and his contemporaries. There is even an appellation contrôlée for andouilles: andouille de Vire, which "includes both intestines and stomach, cleaned, washed, cut up and salted, and enclosed in a skin. The andouille is smoked over beech wood for two months [!], which allows the natural black colour of the coating to develop. It is then tied and cooked either in water or in a aromatized court-bouillon ... Andouille is cut into thin slices and eaten cold in hors d'oeuvres."